Marilyn Smith Marilyn Smith Rochester

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.   To give you a bit of background on events that happened this week, Marilyn began having shortness of breath and a distended abdomen.  She went to the hospital for a thoracentesis on Wednesday which helped immensely but while there, received the bad news from her oncologist.  Her lymphoma had "taken off" and is now what is called a blastoid variant.  It's the same cancer she's had all along but it's now attacking her body with a vengeance.  The oncologist anticipates days, maybe weeks.  Marilyn actually looks and sounds amazing which is confusing all the medical professionals.  In fact, this morning, the physician who was going to place a permanent catheter in her lung to remove the build up of fluid asked Marilyn what was behind her gracious attitude.  She told Marilyn that her team loved her and couldn't wait to take care of her.  That seems to sum it up for all of us!

Marilyn was discharged to home this afternoon.  Hospice has already taken care of the necessary equipment at home and are on call 24/7 with the goal of keeping her comfortable.  The hospice nurse even brought beautiful flowers to add a special touch.  Marilyn welcomes visitors.  To help manage all of the visits, we’ve created a schedule  so things don't get too chaotic and Marilyn is able to rest in-between visits.  Please click on the “ways to help” icon above and then click on the “meal and visits” link.  Sign up for whatever works best for your schedule. If you’re having trouble  with the link, please contact Heidi at hldieter@icloud.com. 


Your prayers are appreciated!